Profile: Guy Lombardi

Guy Lombardi was a participant or observer in the following events:

Matthew Hale, attempting to revive and expand the nearly-defunct Church of the Creator (COTC—see 1973 and July-December 1995), joins with two old COTC members, Matthew Hayhow (see August 1990) and Guy Lombardi, and convenes a gathering at the Montana ranch of COTC leader leader Slim Deardorff. Hale is elected Pontifex Maximus (supreme leader), and Jonathan Viktor, a devotee of COTC founder Ben Klassen, is chosen Hastus Primus, or vice president, of the reconstituted group, now officially named the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC). Hale is successful at revitalizing the organization, aggressively marketing it through pamphlets, newsletters, Web sites, a public access television show, and highly publicized public meetings. Perhaps its most popular publication is a 32-page booklet entitled “Facts that the Government and the Media Don’t Want You to Know,” which many people find on their porches and in their driveways. The booklet, written by Hale, denigrates nonwhites and promotes anti-Semitic theories about Jewish control of the media, the so-called “Kosher Food Tax,” and material allegedly demonstrating the biological superiority of whites. Unlike many white supremacist organizations, Hale works to reach out to women and children, offering far more recognition and involvement to women than other, similar movements. Hale himself is a frequent guest on national television and radio talk shows. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 9/1999; Anti-Defamation League, 2005]

Three Florida members of the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC—see May 1996 and After), Jules Fettu, Donald Hansard, and Raymond Leone, are charged with assaulting an African-American man and his son after the two leave a concert in Sunrise, Florida. Witnesses will state that around 11 “skinheads,” or white males who shave their heads, espouse racist views, and sometimes display Nazi symbology, take part in the beating, kicking the pair in the back, chest, and face and smashing beer bottles over their heads. Fettu is heard to yell “white power!” and racial epithets during the attack, which is classified as a hate crime by police officers. Hansard and Leone will later plead guilty to aggravated assault; Fettu, who runs the WCOTC’s Web site, will be convicted of battery against the two. Guy Lombardi, the group’s Southeast regional director, will plead guilty to attempting to intimidate a witness in the case (see June 1998). [Anti-Defamation League, 7/6/1999; Southern Poverty Law Center, 9/1999]

Guy Lombardi, the Southeast regional director of the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC—see May 1996 and After) and commander of the group’s militant “White Berets,” is charged with intimidating a witness in an assault case against two fellow WCOTC members (see August 1997). Lombardi will plead guilty to the charge. Shortly thereafter, WCOTC leader Matthew Hale will eject Lombardi from the group, for what he calls “insubordination”; Hale will assure other WCOTC members that Lombardi’s dismissal has nothing to do with his arrest, which Hale will call “a badge of honor.” [Southern Poverty Law Center, 9/1999] In the September 1998 issue of The Struggle, Hale will write: “Lombardi was not replaced as commander of the White Berets as a form of punishment for being arrested. Not at all. Being arrested for engaging in our religious rights has never and will never be considered anything by me other than a badge of honor.” [Anti-Defamation League, 7/6/1999]

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